Who decides on the medical treatment of an ill patient?
If the patient is mentally competent, then he or she makes medical treatment decisions usually in consultation with medical personnel, counselors or spiritual advisors and family members. If the patient is not mentally competent or is physically incapacitated so that communication is not possible, then the decision about treatment may be made by a surrogate, known as a healthcare proxy, who has been assigned by an advance directive known as a durable power of attorney for health care. In the absence of a healthcare proxy, medical personnel should take guidance about the patient’s wishes as expressed in a legally executed advance directive called a living will. And in the absence any advance directive, medical personnel will turn to next of kin usually spouse first, then adult children for healthcare decisions. What is a durable power of attorney for healthcare? A durable power of attorney for healthcare is a document that legally gives authority to a surrogate, or healthcare proxy, to
